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Vive Developer Edition “will be free, at least initially”At GDC 2015, Valve was able to impress many people with its SteamVR technology including our own Maximum PC Online Managing Editor Jimmy Thang (see what he thought about the SteamVR demo). But what is surprising is that the company announced that a consumer version will be available in 2015. It is short notice for a device that has just been revealed, but that doesn’t seem to bother Valve. So far, a small selection of developers already have kits, but Valve and HTC will be letting developers apply for a free Vive developer kit soon, according to Ars Technica.
This information comes from Valve VP of Marketing Doug Lombardi, who spoke to Ars Technica, stating that ”more info and sign up forms will be available to all interested developers, big or small, via a new site coming soon.” While Lombardi didn’t reveal how many of the developers who apply online will get a free dev kit, he added that the company’s hope is to have the sign-up site up next week.
The lucky developers who get approved will receive a Developer Edition that “will be free, at least initially,” said Lombardi. According to Valve’s SteamVR page, the Developer Edition “comes with a headset, two controllers, two base stations - everything you need to dive in and start creating new interactive VR experiences.”
How many of these kits will be given away for free is anyone’s guess. But it is a different approach for Valve compared to Oculus VR, which provided early units to its Kickstarter backers and has been selling its dev kit to anyone for $350 on its website. So it will be interesting to see what developers will get the Vive dev kit and what kind of games will be developed.
Of course, the other thing to consider is how much will the Vive cost for developers who are not lucky enough to get it for free and what the consumer version will retail for. Any guesses? Sound off in the comments below!
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